The Oregon Court of Appeals today rejected an appeal from three school districts to overturn the Oregon School Activities Association's revamped athletic system.

A three-judge panel, after scouring hundreds of pages of legal documents and overseeing an 85-minute March hearing, determined that the OSAA did not violate any laws when it expanded Oregon's longstanding four-class system into six classes before the 2006-07 school year.

The OSAA made its sweeping changes in an effort to improve competitive balance and most of Oregon's high schools have embraced the changes. But districts from Eugene, Salem-Keizer and Medford -- claiming that the six-class system would negatively impact its student-athletes, coaches and families by increasing travel and time away from class -- immediately objected, sparking contention and uncertainty.

The six-class system, which reorganized virtually every athletic league at every classification in Oregon, is in the first year of a guaranteed four-year run. The OSAA explores reclassification every four years, but the most recent changes are the biggest in decades, if not ever.